Friday, July 10, 2015

A day to explore





MIDSON was busy yesterday and I was still trying to recover from the long journeys.  I made plans to spend the day with Dhindup Tsering, my Nepali son.  I had not seen him in over 14 years when he was a small child in his village.  As he got older we were able to communicate and FB was very helpful to keep us in touch and for me to see a bit of who he is, but it is not the same as being together.

Meeting him now, as a grown man, fills me with great joy.  I can only say that he is truly special.  He is calm and quiet and exudes great peace and love.  He is kind and curious and playful. He is smart, speaks English, Nepali and understands Tibetan; he is very dedicated to his heritage and will no doubt bring much peace to this world.  I am very proud to be part of his family and will learn much from him.

We traveled around Katmandu to see his favorite places. He took me to Swayambhunath, or Monkey Temple.  365 steps to the top (and yes, I did it!), it is a Buddhist temple of great renowned in the Kathmandu Valley and is considered Kathmandu's most important shrine. There are also Hindu temples surrounding the main stupa making it a sacred place for both religions.  It was seriously damaged in the earthquakes and I can only imagine its splendor when it was whole.  The view from the top was glorious.




After a delightful lunch we went to other temples, each with their own stories. I enjoyed listening to the history and learning about Buddhist culture from Dhindup's perspective as a Buddhist man from the Tibetan Kagyu Lineage, a Karmapa.
  





We visited the places where he played futbal and basketball, as well as his schools and I was able to see firsthand the place where we would get report cards from every year.  I saw where he played and slept (and wrote his name on his cupboard) and I was blessed to meet his two younger sisters who attend there now.  It was lovely to watch the young children learn a traditional dance - but I need to ask Dhindup which tradition - Nepali or Tibetan.






We saw much more than I can mention here and having a personal tour guide made it more delightful.  I look forward to more time with him and cannot wait for him to come to visit us in Vermont.



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